make hard work of
The idiom "make hard work of" is often used to describe situations where a task is made more difficult than it needs to be.
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Definition
B2General
(idiomatic)To perform a task in a way that makes it more difficult or time-consuming than necessary.
Example
- He made hard work of fixing the leak, even though it was a simple job.
- She tends to make hard work of her assignments by overcomplicating things.
B2General
(idiomatic)To struggle with a task that should be easy.
Example
- They made hard work of what should have been an easy victory.
- Despite his experience, he made hard work of organizing the event.
Similar
Terms that have similar or relatively close meanings to "make hard work of":
make short work ofmake quick work ofdo a lot of workhard wordhard timehard goingmake something ofgive someone a hard timehard workmake a meal ofmake nothing of